Toddler electrocuted in front of mom
Lelethu Jaba and her daughter were walking to a tap when the toddler reached out to the side of a shack that had a live wire connected to it.
|||Cape Town - A live wire on the roof of a metal shack in the Joe Slovo informal settlement in Milnerton has led to the death of toddler Khayone Jaba.
The 20-month-old Khayone died shortly after being electrocuted last Wednesday. Her mother, Lelethu Jaba, escaped with minor injuries .
Jaba and her daughter were walking to a tap a few metres away from their home when Khayone reached out to the side of a shack that had a live wire connected to it, collapsing on touching it.
The shack was empty at the time of the incident.
This raised further concern as Joe Slovo is known to have only legal electricity connections.
Jaba, 36, was still in a state of shock when she tried to pick up her child, who was struggling to breathe, and called for help.
“I was holding her hand as we were walking between the shacks. She touched my neighbour’s zinc shack.
“She collapsed and was not moving. She had been shocked and I did not know what to do,” Jaba said on Monday.
“One of the neighbours came and we saw that she was struggling to breathe. She was taken to paramedics who were close by.
“I could not go with them because I couldn’t stand her looking like that. They tried to resuscitate her but she gave up.
“I don’t know how I feel. It’s still painful. You can’t just accept it and it’s hard to move on,” she said.
The toddler’s heartbroken father, Odwa Mqingwana, was in East London when paramedics called to notify him of his daughter’s death.
“We are in this bad and terrible situation. Some community members are trying their best to help us, but it’s difficult. She was only a year and eight months old.
“I can’t blame anyone because she is not going to come back. We are in this situation and we have to find a way out,” said Mqingwana.
He added that representatives from their church visited the family on Sunday and told them they had heard of the incident.
The City said the electricity services department would investigate the matter.
Mayco member for utility services Ernest Sonnenberg said illegal connections are common across the city, but there was no knowledge of illegal connections in the Joe Slovo area.
“To date, nothing has been reported and we cannot find any notification for work in the vicinity.
“The department will engage with the community liaison officer to determine where the incident occurred and institute remedial action if required,” he said.
Police spokesperson Noloyiso Rwexana said: “This office can confirm that an inquest case is under investigation.
“According to reports, the incident occurred on March 2, 2016 at about 11.30am in Joe Slovo, Milnerton. A one-year-old baby was fatally injured.
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Cape Times